Cohoratives and Jussives
Volitional – to express a wish, command,
or desire
Cohortative
The cohortative is the first-person counterpart to the imperative verb
form. The cohortative verb, like the imperative, expresses a command
or wish.
PNG
Imperfect
Cohortative
1cs
‫אֶ כְ ּתׁב‬
I shall write.
‫אֶ כְ ְתבָ ה‬
Let me write. (or)
May I write.
1cp
‫נִכְ ּתׁב‬
We shall write.
‫נִכְ ְתבָ ה‬
Let us write. (or)
May we write.
Jussive
The third-person counterpart to the imperative verb form is the
jussive. The jussive verb expresses a command or wish, such as
“Let him send,” or “May he send?” The jussive verb form is usually
identical to the third-person imperfect verb forms.
‫יִכְ ּתׁב‬
‫יִכְ ּתׁב־נָא‬
He will write. (or) let him write. (Imperfect or Jussive)
Let him write. (Jussive only)
Context is the best way to determine if the third-person verb
should be translated as an imperfect or a jussive. If the verb is
followed by the particle ‫נָא‬, you should translate it as a jussive.
III- ‫ ה‬Jussives: 3ms/3fs Jussives drop the ‫ֶׁה‬ending of the 3ms/3fs
Imperfect
‫יִבְ נֶה‬
‫ַי ֲעלֶה‬
he will build
he will go up
‫יִבֶ ן‬
‫יַעַ ל‬
let him build
let him go up
Negation of Cohortative & Jussive
‫ – ַאל‬Generally, used with or without the maqqef.
For example: ‫נָאׁנֹאבְ ָדה‬-‫ ַאל‬Do not let us perish (Johah 1:14)
Also: ‫יִחַ רׁאַ ְפָךׁבְ עַ בְ דֶ ָך‬-‫ וְ ַאל‬Do not let your anger burn against your
servant (Gen 44:18)
Sequences with Volitionals
The imperative, cohortative, and jussive are grouped together into one
paradigm and share the same sequence characteristics. There are
three main sequence types:
Imperative followed by imperative. A list of imperative verbs
joined by a vav conjunction. For example:
‫ְשמַ עּׁוכְ תׁב‬
Hear and write!
Imperative followed by perfect. Similar to the narrative sequences we
learned in chapter 24, the imperative is followed by the perfect verb
attached to a vav-conversive. Remember that the vav-conversive
changes the meaning of the perfect to the meaning of the previous verb,
in this case an imperative. For example:ָׁ‫ ְשמַ עׁוְ כָ תַ בְ ּת‬Hear and (then) write!
Imperative, cohortative, or jussive followed by imperfect or
cohortative. For this sequence, use the translation value of “so that”
to express a result or purpose. Note the use of a vav conjunction
instead of a vav-conversive.
‫ ְשמַ עׁוְ אֶ כְ ּתׁב‬Hear so that I may write!
Easily Confused Words
‫כָ ְתבָ ה‬
‫כָ ְתבָ ה‬
Qal Perfect 3fs “she wrote”
‫כָ ְתבּו‬
‫כִ ְתבּו‬
Qal Perfect 3cp “they wrote”
Qal Imperative 2ms (you) write!
Qal Imperative 2mp (you) write!
‫בְ נּו‬
‫בָ נּו‬
Qal Perfect 3cp “they built”
‫עָ לּו‬
‫עֲלּו‬
Qal Perfect 3cp “they went up”
Qal Imperative 2mp (you) build!
Qal Imperative 2mp “(you) go up!”